Posting

Basics

How do I post something to Tumblr?

Ready to post something to your blog? Grand. Nothing is quite so invigorating as a fresh post.

On the web: You've got two buttons to choose from. Both are very easy to find.

At the top of your dashboard, you can click the icon of the type of post you want to make.

Or, from anywhere on your dashboard, you can click the blue compose button that's always hanging out in the upper right-hand corner.

On mobile: Just tap the blue compose button at the bottom of your screen.

I have a few blogs. How do I choose which one I’m posting from?

On the web: In any post form, click the arrow next to your blog name. Choose the blog you want to post from.

On mobile: In any post form, tap your blog name. Choose the blog you want to post from.

How do I post a photo?

You’ve got several options, my little friend.

On the web: First, open a new photo post form. From there, you can either:

Click the camera icon to upload images from your computer.

Drag files directly from your desktop into the post form.

Or click the globe icon to post a photo from a specific URL.

Tip: To add click-through links, hover over the photo and click the link icon that appears in the top right corner.

Another tip: Take a selfie using your webcam by clicking on the li’l smiley face.

On mobile: Open a new photo post form. Take a photo, or upload one from your camera roll. Done. These aren’t even really instructions. These are just statements. That’s how easy this is.

How do I post a photoset?

It’s embarrassingly easy!

On the web: Just pop open a new photo post and do one of the following:

Drag more than one file into the post form.

Select more than one file when you’re uploading a photo.

You can choose up to 10 images. Then just drag them around to create the layout you want. If you’ve already added photos, you can add more by clicking the camera icon below them that says “Add another.”

Tip: If you hold down the alt/option key, the camera icon turns into a globe and you can add more photos from the web via URL instead of uploading from your computer.

Another tip: You can caption individual photos in a photoset, if you want. Just hover over the photo in question and click on the ellipsis in the corner. Alas, people will only see these captions if they happen to click on the photo in the dashboard. So...don’t put anything actually important in there. Unless you want to hide it like buried treasure, that is. Buried treasure is pretty important.

On mobile: Just pop open a new photo post and tap up to 10 images. Then drag them around to create the layout you want.

What should I do if I’m having trouble uploading an image?

Try the following:

For static images, make sure the file is no larger than 10MB and is either a JPEG or a PNG.

If you’re posting an animated GIF, make sure it is no larger than 2MB and no more than 540 pixels wide.

Trying saving a brand new version of the file using the photo/image application of your choice. This can sometimes help remove any encoding snags that may have been in the original file.

We don’t support CMYK files or other non-RGB image files, so save the image in RGB and try uploading again.

How do I post audio?

Easiest way is to just start typing an artist or song name. If it’s on Spotify or Soundcloud, we’ll find it and post it for you. You can also click on the little headphones icon on the right and post your own MP3s—one per day, 10MB max—and update the artist, title, and album info once the file has been processed. M4A, M4P, and WMA files don’t get along with our uploader, and we don’t accept URLs that point to a web page or Flash embed.

How do I post videos?

On the web: If it’s on Vimeo, YouTube, or some similar site you can just open a new video post, click the globe icon, and paste its embed code or video link into the post form. You can also click the camera icon to upload your own MOV or MP4 files—up to 100MB per day.

On mobile: Open a new video post. Then pick a video from your camera roll, or record a new one.

How do I format text in a post?

Just select the text. All of your formatting options will pop up in some little bubble buttons. You can make it:

Bold

Italicized

A heading

A link

Strike-throughed (not a word, please forgive)

A numbered list

A bulleted list

A blockquote

How do I insert an inline photo or video into a post?

Make sure your cursor is on a new blank line in the post, then click the little plus sign button that pops up to the left side. From there, you can:

Upload images by clicking on the camera icon.

Paste in a video embed code by clicking on the little video camera.

Search for a GIF by clicking on the little GIF icon, then typing something into the box that appears.

To add an image from a URL, just paste the URL into the post box.

If you get persnickety about image widths, keep in mind that images 300px and larger will automatically scale to fit the Dashboard (540px).

You can put up to five total inline photos or videos into your post.

I’m the kind of fun-loving person who likes writing posts in HTML. Can I do that?

We admire both your persnicketiness and your mistrust of rich text editors. If you prefer raw-ass code, just click the settings gear in the top right-hand corner of the post. You can switch to HTML editing in the menu that shows up.

I just wrote a super-long wall of text. Any advice for how I can make it more digestible?

Sure! There are a couple tools in your toolbelt specifically for this situation.

First, make sure your cursor is on a new blank line in the post, then click the little plus sign button that pops up to the left side. From there, you can:

Add a read-more link. When people see the post in their dashboard, they won’t see anything past where you put the link. Instead, they’ll see some blue text that says “Keep reading.” They can click that text to read the rest of your post.

How do I add tags to a post?

There’s a section at the bottom of the post that says “#tags.” Type your tags there, hitting enter (or comma) after each one.

Remember: Tags on Tumblr can have spaces in them. They are the most legible tags on the internet. Hooray! To further strengthen your tagging prowess, read more about tags here.

What else is lurking in that post settings gear?

An assortment of odds and ends. Most people won’t need to use them, but they’re always there for you, just in case.

You can set the content source of your post.

You can give your post a custom URL.

The publication date of your post, which, yeah, you can sneakily change.

The option to let people photo-reply to your post.

I don’t want to post this post right now. Can I save it for later?

Certainly. You’ve got a few options for how to fit posting into your busy lifestyle. Just click the arrow on the right side of the “Post” button. From here, you can decide to:

Post now. That’s the default setting. The post is published as soon as you hit “Post.”

How do I share this post with my friends on Facebook and my followers on Twitter?

Traitor! No, ha ha, just kidding. You can use the Facebook and Twitter buttons at the bottom of the post form to share it each one, accordingly. It doesn’t get shared until you actually post it, by the way.

How do I get one of those clever “Buy” buttons to show up on my post?

If you’re browsing on one of our partner sites like Etsy or Kickstarter and you see something you simply MUST pressure all of your friends into buying / supporting immediately, click the share button on that site and share it as a post on Tumblr.

You can also share the item via the Tumblr bookmarklet to make that button appear—or if you’re comfortable with a certain level of geekery, you can manually add the listing’s URL as the content source of the post (that option is hidden in the gear icon at the top-right corner of the post form).

Add the URL as the content source in any post type. (This one is a little geeky—the content source field is hidden in the gear icon at the top-right corner of the post form.)

How do I remove existing posts from my blog?

Choose the blog from the Account menu at the top of the Dashboard.

Click the gear icon at the bottom of the post you want to remove, then choose "Delete." If you want to remove a large number of posts, we recommend using the Mass Post Editor, which you can access on the right side of the page or via tumblr.com/mega-editor/blogname.

Just a quick note: when you delete a post from your blog, it will not delete the reblogs of that post.

Email Publishing

Can I post to my blog via email?

Heck, why not. Post through any email client you want. Just send an email to your mobile publishing address with the content you’d like to publish.

How do I find my email address for email publishing?

Click "Settings" under the Account menu at the top of the Dashboard.

Click the blog you’d like to publish to on the right side of the page.

You’ll find your private email address in the Post by Email section. (You can always reset this if you’re having issues publishing.)

Can I use Markdown to create rich text formatting when posting by email?

Such a strangely specific question. Yes, you can use Markdown, just be sure to include !m in any part of the email’s subject or body to enable Markdown. The !m code will automatically be removed from the final version.

How do I send a Text post?

Put the text in the body of the email.

Put a title in the subject line (optional).

How do I send a Photo or Photoset?

Attach photos to the email.

Write a caption in the subject line or body.

How do I send a Link post?

Write the title of the link in the subject line.

Paste the link in the body of the email.

How do I send a Quote post?

Type the quote in the body of the email.

Be sure to include who you’re quoting (duh).

How do I send a Chat post?

Type the dialogue in the body of the email.

Include the title of the post in the subject line (optional).

How do I tag posts via email?

Just stick the tags at the end of the email. Be sure to start each with a hash (e.g., #laundry #hamper #wicker #dope).

What if I’m having trouble with email publishing?

A few tips:

Send posts directly to your mobile publishing email address. You cannot email another email address and then forward the email from there.

Make sure to put the mobile publishing email address in the “To:” field; it cannot go in the “cc:” or “bcc:” field.

Bookmarklet

What’s the bookmarklet?

It’s a neat little thing that lets you quickly post stuff to Tumblr while browsing other sites. Grab it here. You can make the same types of posts as with the regular post form, except that you can’t post audio and you have to use commas to separate each tag (under the Advanced tab).